Eight Ways to Keep Work from Spilling into Your Season of (So-Called) Joy

Picture it: Three days before Christmas and you’ve still got to bake your great-grandma’s famous cookies, do your eleventh-hour shopping, scrub the house, pick up relatives from the airport, and—oh yes—finish up that year-end marketing report and field a couple of client calls. You know the holidays aren’t going to be Norman Rockwell perfect. You’ve accepted that. Still, it sure would be great if you could at least leave work behind this year and just enjoy (endure?) your family—old sibling rivalries, critical comments from Mom, tipsy Uncle Fred and all!

Actually, says Brian P. Moran, you don’t have to show up late to your child’s holiday play because you’re tying up a work project, or run off to check your email while the turkey gets cold. You just need to muster up some discipline and think about time in a different way.

“Successful people work with great focus and intention, and they play the same way,” says Moran, coauthor along with Michael Lennington of the New York Times best seller The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months (Wiley, 2013, ISBN: 978-1-1185092-3-4, $23.00, www.12weekyear.com). “When they’re working they’re really working, and when they take time off, they make the absolute most of that time. Rest and rejuvenation are the other side of the success coin.

“You must be purposeful about how you spend the time leading up to the holiday breaks,” he adds. “The reason most people end up working during their holiday time off isn’t that they just have so much to do that they can never take a break. It’s that they aren’t working with intention when they have the opportunity—and thus, they aren’t executing effectively.”

Being intentional about how you spend your time is the heart of the authors’ message. Our ability to do this impacts not only business profit sheets but also the quality of our personal lives.

“Many of us spend our days just reacting to the problems that have arisen rather than proactively moving toward our goals, and that’s how we can end up feeling pulled in a hundred different directions,” says Moran. “And of course, it’s also why we find ourselves in so much conflict when the holidays roll around—not only must we get all the loose ends tied up before we’re out of the office, we also have to add in a hundred holiday-specific tasks related to home, friends, and family.”

Moran and Lennington’s new book, The 12 Week Year, offers a new way to think about time and how you use it. In a nutshell, plan your goals in a 12 week year rather than a 12 month year. When you do so, you’re far more likely to feel a healthy sense of urgency that gets you focused. Whether you’re a business leader or just an individual seeking a better work/life balance, you’ll get far more done in far less time—and you’ll feel a lot less stressed and a lot more in control.

Below are a few essential tips for what you can do right now to make sure your days off are free of work worries (not to mention shopping-cooking-decorating worries) so that you can spend true quality time with family and friends.

Picture the perfect holiday. Pigging out on grandma’s apple pie. Singing carols with your kids. Cheering on your favorite football team. These are the makings of a great holiday season, and they should serve as the vision that will drive you through the hard work you’ll have to get done before the office shuts down for the holidays.

“Vision is the starting point of all high performance,” says Moran. “It is the first place where you engage your thinking about what is possible for you. The more personally compelling your vision is, the more likely it is that you will act upon it. It is your personal vision that creates an emotional connection to the daily actions that need to take place in your business. Once you understand the link between your vision (including that perfect holiday season) and your work, you can define exactly what you need to do to make the most of your time off.”

Create a pre-holiday season plan. The authors’ book emphasizes the benefits of planning how you use your time via 12 week execution cycles. Of course, the holidays are right around the corner so you don’t have 12 weeks to work with. That’s okay. The same principles you would use to make a 12 week plan can be used to plan out the weeks left before the holidays are in full swing.

In The 12 Week Year, Moran and Lennington explain that working from a plan has three distinct benefits. It reduces mistakes. It saves time. And it provides focus. Planning, they write, allows you to think through in advance the best approach to achieving your goals. You make your mistakes on paper, which reduces miscues during implementation.

“Leading up to the holidays, it is a good idea to create a plan for each work week you have left,” notes Moran. “Your weekly plan captures just the keystone actions that drive your most important results. It defines your short-term and long-term commitments in the context of what you have to do this week. Be sure to include in your plan the non-work related tasks the holidays add to your plate, such as present shopping, tree decorating, gift wrapping, and so on. You will need to be sure to factor in time for these activities as well.”

For example, as part of the first week of your pre-holiday season plan, you might set up a meeting with your boss, colleagues, and/or clients to a) inform them of how much time you’ll be taking off for the holidays, and b) let them know what projects you’re going to prioritize. On the home front, you might also get together with your spouse to work out who will be handling what holiday responsibilities.

“All of this helps you focus on the elements of your plan that must happen each week in order to make that perfect holiday vision possible,” says Moran.

Resign yourself to being uncomfortable NOW so you can be comfortable LATER. Without a compelling reason to choose otherwise, most people will take comfortable actions over uncomfortable ones. This is just human nature. Problem is, the uncomfortable tasks you avoided prior to your holiday break are precisely the ones that will blow up, get out of control, or just keep you worrying while you’re trying to enjoy some time off.

“Important actions are often the uncomfortable ones,” says Moran. “In our experience, the number one thing you will have to sacrifice to be great, to achieve what you are capable of, and to execute your plans is your comfort. So, if your goal is to have a carefree holiday break, commit to sacrificing your short-term comfort today so that you can reach it. Take care of any tasks you’ve been avoiding now so that they can’t ruin your time off and so that they aren’t on your mind when you’re trying to have a good time.”

Know what to do when you’re not doing the things you know you need to do. Of course, upping the work ante prior to taking time off won’t be easy. There will be times when your level of execution is less than exceptional, and it’s very likely you won’t be able to ignore the nagging, guilty feeling that drop in execution brings on. But the good news is you can use that feeling—what the authors call productive tension—to get yourself back on track.

“Productive tension is the uncomfortable feeling you get when you’re not doing the things you know you need to do,” says Moran. “Our natural inclination when confronted with discomfort is to resolve it. Sometimes this leads people to simply bail on their plans. In your case, it might mean resolving that you simply can’t get everything done before your time off that you need to get done. So you throw in the towel and accept that you’ll have to do some work during your holiday break.

“But productive tension can also be used as a catalyst for change. Instead of responding to the discomfort by bailing, use the tension as an impetus to move forward. When you eliminate bailing out as an option, then the discomfort of productive tension will eventually compel you to take action on your tactics. If turning back is not an option, then the only way to resolve the discomfort is to move forward by executing your plan.”

Make the most of performance time and down time. As you work toward your time off, it will be very important that you not respond to the demands of the day reactively. In other words, you can’t satisfy the various demands of the day as they are presented, spending whatever time is needed to respond without giving any thought to the relative value of the activity. You have to use your time wisely.

You can keep control of your day through time-blocking. Basically, you block your day into three kinds of blocks—strategic blocks, buffer blocks, and breakout blocks. A strategic block is uninterrupted time that is scheduled into each week. During this block, you accept no phone calls, no faxes, no emails, no visitors, no anything. Buffer blocks are designed to deal with all of the unplanned and low-value activities—like most email and voicemail—that arise throughout a typical day, while breakout blocks provide free time for you to use to rest and rejuvenate.

“Again, be sure to factor non-work related holiday tasks into your blocked out time,” advises Moran. “If you don’t, these will be precisely the tasks that you’re either squeezing in at the last minute or end up doing in lieu of finishing up that project or returning a client’s call.

“Also, I want to stress how important breakout blocks are,” he adds. “Even in the frantic rush leading up to the holidays, you should allow yourself some down time. Always working longer and harder kills your energy and enthusiasm. Even before your time off you need to schedule time to refresh and reinvigorate, so you can continue to engage with more focus and energy. And keep in mind, your breakout blocks are great for scheduling the fun activities we associate with the holidays, like taking the kids ice skating or watching your favorite holiday movie.”

Don’t go it alone. It’s likely that out of your network of colleagues and friends you aren’t the only one who is a) hoping to have a work-free holiday break, and b) currently working frantically to make that goal possible. And if that’s the case, team up with them. The peer support you receive will be invaluable in your pursuit of the perfect holiday season.

“Your chances of success are seven times greater if you employ peer support,” says Moran. “In working with thousands of clients over the past decade, we have found that when clients meet regularly with a group of peers, they perform better; when they don’t, performance suffers. It’s that simple.

“But there is a caveat,” he adds. “Who you associate with matters. Stay away from victims and excuse makers. Treat that mindset like a deadly, contagious disease.”Isolate yourself from modern day distractions. In our modern world, technology can be a major distraction. When you’re focused on executing your pre-holiday season plan, don’t let smartphones, social media, and the Internet distract you from your higher-value activities.

“Some spontaneity is healthy, but if you are not purposeful with your time, you’ll get thrown off course,” explains Moran. “Allow yourself to get distracted by emails, social media, or the latest viral video while you’re working your pre-holiday break plan, and before you know it, you’ll be working on the project you didn’t finish while the rest of your family is laughing and having fun in the kitchen while baking holiday treats. Learn to isolate yourself from distractions when there is important work to be done.”

Make a keystone commitment for your holiday break. As Moran and Lennington explain, many of their clients set a 12 week goal in a certain area—say, getting fit. Then they build a 12 week plan around it with a handful of tactics like “do 20 minutes of cardio three times a week,” “train with weights three times a week,” and so forth. But the other option is to again set a 12 week goal but, rather than building a tactical plan, identify a keystone or core action and commit to completing it every day for the next 12 weeks. It’s this second option that can help you make the most of your holiday time off.

“Your keystone commitment might be making breakfast for your family every morning—something you don’t get to do during a normal work week,” suggests Moran. “Or you might commit to doing a different holiday activity with your family each day—driving around to look at Christmas lights or going to a candlelight service or working in the local soup kitchen.

“Setting a keystone commitment helps you avoid wasting your time on meaningless activities,” he adds. “Remember, your pre-holiday break plan was all about spending your time with great intent and purpose so that you’d be able to truly enjoy your time off. Why should you stop being more purposeful with your time once you’re actually away from the office? Think about the difference these relatively simple commitments can make to you and your family!”

“Your time off is precious, especially this time of year,” says Moran. “Don’t ruin it by giving your smartphone all the attention. You need that time to rest and rejuvenate so that when you do go back to work you’re ready and committed to making great things happen. And you and your family deserve that uninterrupted time together. Set your vision. Make a plan. Stay the course. When you’re decorating the tree with your kids or putting the finishing touches on the perfect turkey, you’ll be so glad you did.”

About the Authors:Brian P. Moran is founder and CEO of The Execution Company, an organization committed to improving the performance and enhancing the quality of life for leaders and entrepreneurs. He has served in management and executive positions with UPS, PepsiCo, and Northern Automotive and consults with dozens of world-class companies each year. As an entrepreneur, he has led successful businesses and been instrumental in the growth and success of many others. In addition to his books, Brian has been published in many of the leading business journals and magazines. He is a sought-after speaker, educating and inspiring thousands each year. Brian lives in Michigan with his wife, Judy, and their two daughters.

Michael Lennington is vice president of The Execution Company. He is a consultant, coach, and leadership trainer, and is an expert in implementing lasting change in organizations. He works with clients in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to help them implement corporate initiatives that drive sales, service, and profitability. Michael holds a BS from Michigan State University and an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He lives with his wife, Kristin, and their children in northern Michigan.

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